How Much Is That Doggie?
by SistineMay
Summary: Sam and Teal'c take a down-sized Jack and Daniel to the pet store and end up with more than they bargained for. Sequel to 'Jumping Castles'.


**I had started to write this a couple of years ago but never got around to finishing it. Suddenly, when I was thinking about what to write for the above prompt, I remembered that I had this fic, so I got it out, thought about it for awhile, and then figured out how to finish it!**

In an effort to keep the energetic four-year-old interested during a shopping trip, Sam and Teal'c decided to take Jack and his younger 'brother' Danny, to the pet shop. Looking after the two after they had been down-sized had been full of challenges and shopping was no exception.

Jack's eyes widened with delight as he saw something fun - dog kennels! "Come on, Danny," he said, grabbing his brother's hand.

Danny obediently followed him. When Jack crawled into a funny-shaped box, Danny copied him and went into the next one, though he didn't know why they were doing it.

"We're doggies!" Jack announced enthusiastically. "Woof-woof! Woof-woof-woof!"

"Woof-woof!" Danny echoed loudly.

Teal'c, who had followed the little boys with amusement, now raised one eyebrow. "MajorCarter, why are they behaving like canines?"

"They're playing pretend," Sam replied with a grin as she came over to stand with her friend. The boys were really cute and she wished she had her camera handy. "Little kids like to pretend they're animals."

"Why?"

Sam shrugged. "Because it's fun. Children have great imaginations. Didn't you play like this as a child?"

"It was not appropriate," Teal'c stated solemnly as he watched the boys continue to bark. "Jaffa children are not allowed to express their imagination unless they are battling each other."

"Then they missed out on a good time," Sam commented. There was a 'grrr' tug on her trousers and she looked down to see Jack on all fours. She bobbed down and patted his head. "Good doggie," she praised.

Jack wiggled his bottom and 'woofed' in thanks before going back to his kennel, panting like a dog. Danny, seeing the attention Jack had received, tried the same thing but with Teal'c, who was closer.

Teal'c looked at Sam for assistance. She gestured that he should do what she had down so Teal'c crouched down and looked at the toddler solemnly. "Good canine," he said while patting Danny's head.

The little boy didn't quibble about words; he had got the praise he had wanted. With two quick 'woofs', and a wiggle of his bottom, he crawled away, a large grin on his face.

Sam couldn't help laughing. "Good canine?" she teased Teal'c. One would think that after this much time on Earth, the Jaffa would have got the hang of the English language.

"Is that not correct?" Teal'c enquired even though he knew what he should have said. However, he was nearly one hundred years; old habits died hard.

Sam just shook her head as she turned her attention back to the boys. They were currently practising how to roll over, which Danny couldn't do quite as well as Jack; the co-ordination wasn't there yet.

After a bit more playing, Jack decided that was enough - he wanted to see the animals. He loved animals, especially dogs, and desperately wanted a pet that he could play with all the time. "Look at the doggies!" He ran over to the section where the puppies were, and bounced up and down eagerly. "Do we get to keep one?"

"No, we're just looking," Sam told him as she brought two-year-old Danny over to where Jack was. "See the puppies, Danny?"

"Woof-woof!" was the toddler's response. Danny pointed to a black Labrador puppy. "Woof-woof!"

"That's right," Sam praised with a grin. The little linguist always liked talking to animals in their own language. "And over there are some kittens."

"Ma-oo, ma-oo," Danny stated, clapping his hands. He toddled over to the kittens for a closer look.

"Doggies are better," Jack stated with all the authority he could muster. "They're much more friendly."

Danny shook his head. "Ma-oo good. Sho' good."

Sam grinned. Schroedinger, her cat from Narim, had made firm friends with little Danny and was very tolerant with the little boy.

Jack sighed, knowing he had lost the argument. He went over to join Danny at the kittens and grudgingly admitted that they were cute. Sort of.

They happily looked at some of the other animals like birds and fish - which Danny liked too - before the toddler's attention was taken by something. "Am-sees," he said, waddling off towards where the bigger dogs were.

The two adults turned to watch him while Jack continued to make faces at the fish. "Danny, where are you going?" Sam asked.

"See Am-sees," Danny replied. He stopped in front of the glass box that a reddish-coloured Labrador was sitting in and put his hands on the glass. "Hi, Am-sees."

Teal'c was the first one to make the connection. "I believe he is talking about the Pharaoh Ramesses II, who had red hair."

"Oh." Sam walked over to Danny and crouched down next to him. "Is this Ramesses?"

"Uh-huh. My doggie," Danny stated, patting the glass.

Sam sighed. "Danny, we can't get a dog." She didn't know who would look after it when the boys became men again; she knew it wouldn't be her.

Just at that moment, Jack realised that his little brother had disappeared and came running over to them. "What are you looking at, Danny?"

"My doggie, Am-sees."

Jack looked at the Labrador and grinned. "I _knew_ you liked doggies better!" he exclaimed, doing a funny little victory dance before settling down again.

"Danny, we can't get Ramesses," Sam pointed out, feeling mean when the little boy looked at her with a big pout on his face.

"But wan' Am-seeeeees!" Danny started to wail, his eyes filling with tears.

"Perhaps we should buy Ramesses for him," Teal'c suggested as he threat-assessed the dog. It was almost a year old, so still on the smaller side but bigger than the puppies. "I am sure that O'Neill will look after him when they are returned to normal."

Sam felt herself starting to give in.

"Please, please, please, please!" Jack added his begging to Danny's pouting. "We promise to be really good and to eat all our veggies and to play with Rammy and…"

"Pease!" Danny added his voice at a very high pitch, making everyone wince.

"Woof!" The newly-named Ramesses put his agreement in - either that, or he was complaining about the noise.

"Okay, okay." Sam's resistance crumbled. "I'll go find someone to ask about Ramesses."

"Yay!" two little voices shouted in unison, Danny's tears beginning to dry up already.

A minute later, Sam came back with a young man who was able to get Ramesses out for the boys to cuddle. Danny immediately latched onto the dog and practically buried his face in the reddish fur. "My doggie!" he crowed.

"I believe DanielJackson is in love," Teal'c observed dryly.

Sam couldn't help giggling at that expression. "Yep, it's definitely puppy love," she joked.

Not to be left out, Jack cuddled the dog too but ended up getting a mouthful of fur. "Yuck!" he said as he spat it out. Then he looked up at Sam. "We can really get him?"

"Really," Sam assured him. As the boys happily cuddled Ramesses, Sam negotiated with the salesman about price and what else they would need. Ten minutes later, she and the boys were the proud owners of Ramesses (who, according to the salesman, was actually female but Sam felt she didn't need to tell the boys that) plus a myriad of accessories. Sam groaned at the bill but she figured that Jack and Daniel could reimburse her later, when they were grown-up again.

"We got Rammy!" Jack exclaimed as they left the pet shop. He had one hand on the lead, 'helping' Teal'c with the dog.

Danny glared at him, obviously disliking the nickname even at his young age. "Am-sees," he insisted.

"Aw, come on, Danny," Jack protested.

"Am-sees."

"Rammy."

"Am-sees."

"Fine. Ram-sees it is," Jack gave in; he couldn't very many arguments against Danny.

The little toddler grinned a toothy grin. "My doggie," he said proudly.

Sam and Teal'c just shared a look. It would be interesting to see how keen Daniel was to claim Ramesses when he was an adult again. In the meantime, life was going to be even more… interesting.


End file.
